Break My Heart

Album: Future Nostalgia (2020)
Charted: 6 13
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Break My Heart" is an funky disco-pop song where Dua Lipa questions whether a new love will leave her nursing a broken heart again.

    I should've stayed at home
    'Cause now there ain't no letting you go
    Am I falling in love with the one that could break my heart?


    Lipa is falling for her new beau so that hard that should they part, it would be a heartbreak that would never mend. She explained to Apple Music: "It's about finally being in a happy place and knowing this new person is amazing. But then thinking: 'Nothing else compares to this, and what if this ends and it breaks my heart?' It's the whole thing of being scared to be too happy."
  • Dua is likely referencing her boyfriend Anwar Hadid as "the one" she is falling in love with. The American model is brother to the famous siblings Bella and Gigi Hadid. The couple first met back in early 2019 when Hadid showed Lipa some songs he'd written. They started dating in the summer of 2019.
  • Dua Lipa wrote the song with:

    Producer Andrew Watt and songwriter Ali Tamposi, whose previous collaborations together include Camilla Cabello's Monster hit "Havana."

    Jordan K. Johnson and Stefan Johnson of The Monsters and the Strangerz musical collective. They have worked a number of times with Maroon 5 including the hit song "Memories."

    "Break My Heart" marks Lipa's first time collaborating with Ali Tamposi, Andrew Watt and The Monsters & Strangerz.
  • Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farriss of the Australian band INXS are also credited as songwriters because the melody of "Break My Heart" is similar to their 1987 single "Need You Tonight."

    Dua Lipa admitted to Billboard's Pop Shop podcast the likenesses between the two tracks aren't intentional. "When we were in the studio, we didn't quite connect the dots. We were just like, 'Oh yeah, this is great!' We were on such a high and we were just working on it, and then I listened back, and I was like 'Hold on, guys.'"

    "I think it's great, I think she's really cool," INXS' guitarist Tim Farriss told NME of his brother's writing credit. "It's kind of bizarre to hear it like that, because it's really an interpretation. Hats off to her for asking for permission to use it and for the writing credit. I think there should be more of that stuff. If you're going to do it, just be straight-up about it and it's all good."
  • The song originated with Dua Lipa asking Andrew Watt to play some bass guitar. "When we got into the studio, she wanted me to pick up a bass and focus on something bass-heavy, and I just started playing that baseline," Watt recalled to Consequence of Sound. "All of us in the room really clung to it."

Comments: 3

  • Amy Moreno from Port St.lucie ,flit's a very very good song but my number one song from her is Training season and Houdini
  • Hopper from OhIt sounds more like (another one bites the dust)
  • Lareina Thomas from Farmington,nmBest song ever I love it SOOOOOO MUCH!!! great job Dua Lipa
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

Barney Hoskyns Explores The Forgotten History Of Woodstock, New York

Barney Hoskyns Explores The Forgotten History Of Woodstock, New YorkSong Writing

Our chat with Barney Hoskyns, who covers the wild years of Woodstock - the town, not the festival - in his book Small Town Talk.

American Hits With Foreign Titles

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?

La La Brooks of The Crystals

La La Brooks of The CrystalsSong Writing

The lead singer on "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me," La La explains how and why Phil Spector replaced The Crystals with Darlene Love on "He's A Rebel."

John Parr

John ParrSongwriter Interviews

John tells the "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" story and explains why he disappeared for so long.

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat WorldSongwriter Interviews

Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.